I have never been on a podium before. But then, with a tournament of only four, I was assured a place just by participating. I was anticipating, or hoping for a third place ranking, so I am chuffed to have come in second. I felt that first was pretty impossible, since the first place guy is from my gym, and we spar together, and I know that almost every time we do so, he wins. He never even breaks a sweat. His advice was to remain calm and beat your opponent to pieces. I largely followed his advice. Thank you Mr. Samoto. I thought I would lose to my first opponent who, though approximately 10kg lighter than me, and 7cm shorter, is a brown belt, gym instructor apparently. But in the event, it was more a case of two old guys beating each other's torsos. He was talking to himself out loud, saying "this, that, again" and had more grit than me but his superior grit was not enough to make up for my weight and size advantage.
He, and then later his son, came to thank and compliment me after the match. Only in Japan. The gratitude was, or should be, all mine. He went up against someone a head bigger than him and then thanked me. At about the 30 or 40 second mark, half way thought our bout (not including extra time) he hit me in the solar plexus. This is very important. I can do a lot of press ups (about 70 on a good day) and having my stomach muscles pulverised does not hurt all that much (with the adrenalin) but when he hit the solar plexus button, I said aargh or something, and thought I was going to lose. But after a a very long second, I was okay and the mutual pummelling continued. Nothing much really happened, other than a sort of cheered hell of mutual pummelling. Part of the way through I thought that as long as he does not hit my solar plexus again, I can take this, and also that while he had more grit than me, with my massive weight and height advantage, it seemed to me that I could win, or at least not lose badly if the strange ceremony continued.
The draw at the end of the 90 seconds, was I felt fair enough. I did not know where it would go in the extension of another 60 seconds. But what with all my cycling, it became apparent that I was in the better stamina condition. His terrier punches weren't hurting, he seemed to be tired, so I had the space, the time, to kick and even knee (I was planning to knee lots!). That said, at the end of extra time I was still not sure. I felt I'd won but only due to size and was not sure if the judges would respect his greater perseverance. They showed no mercy so, I won.
After that first bout, in this tournament and my life, I was kind of pumped and ready to take on my stable mate in the "final". But I was never likely to beat him. Excuses. It ended in a very predictable way. His left hook to my liver.
I never new, till taking up karate, that the solar plexus and liver are the places to punch someone if you can't punch to the head. The solar plexus is good, and results in a second's "oof". But the liver is like being winded. The pain is not as great, for me, as sometimes said but it results in me in a sort of shut down, whole-body freeze. But even that was a whole lot of fun.
有永先生、主催者、応援者、そして参加者、どうもありがとうございました。
Should you wish that I cease and desist - remove this image from the Net then please leave a comment or contact me via the email link at nihonbunka.com
お取り下げご希望の場合は書きのコメント欄か、HPのnihonbunka.comまでご一筆ください。
楽しかったです！
↙(_ _)↘

有永先生、主催者、応援者、そして参加者、どうもありがとうございました。
Should you wish that I cease and desist - remove this image from the Net then please leave a comment or contact me via the email link at nihonbunka.com
お取り下げご希望の場合はこの下ののコメント欄か、HPのnihonbunka.comまでご一筆ください。
楽しかったです！
↙(_ _)↘

First time on a podium!
有永先生、主催者、応援者、そして参加者、どうもありがとうございました。
Should you wish that I cease and desist - remove this image from the Net then please leave a comment or contact me via the email link at nihonbunka.com
お取り下げご希望の場合は書きのコメント欄か、HPのnihonbunka.comまでご一筆ください。
楽しかったです！
↙(_ _)↘

Karate does not improve my periodontal condition but, I feel fit!
有永先生、主催者、応援者、そして参加者、どうもありがとうございました。
Should you wish that I cease and desist - remove this image from the Net then please leave a comment or contact me via the email link at nihonbunka.com
お取り下げご希望の場合は書きのコメント欄か、HPのnihonbunka.comまでご一筆ください。
楽しかったです！
↙(_ _)↘

I bought some pedals from China (or Taiwan) via aliexpress. They turned out to be re-branded Shimano pedals, possibly factory seconds, with a different axle. I could not clip in or out. Most of the time I have a great experience shopping on aliexpress.

Go to the discovery of Yoshida Yamaguchi-shi (Yamaguchi, Japan), see photos and pictures of Yoshida Yamaguchi-shi with landscapes, skyline, characteristic places, monuments and much more, within 2 km from the selected point, with ManyFoto.com (United States)… Now you're looking at photos in Japan, to change the country select: [ Select the country: ].